[ltp] Thinkpads and XKB - keyboard geometry

[Evan Leibovitch]

Has anyone spent any effort figuring out the most suitable Xkb layout for a 
Thinkpad?

I'd like to have/make a keyboard layout that allows for easy use creation 
of accented or other symbols without being silly. In my system (Mandrake 
9.1) I have the keyboard set to us_intl. This allows typing of the two 
characters "^" and "o" to give ô, but the mapping should be smart enough to 
know that typing "^M" should give "^M" since there's no such character as 
circumflex-M. Windows can do that, why shouldn't X be able to?

Then there's the issue of the geometry. Thinkpads (and most laptops) don't 
have all the keys of a regular 105-key keyboard -- the "windows" keys 
aren't there. Yet there are other keys (the "thinkpad" key and the two keys 
on either side of the "up"key. If these keys send scancodes we should be 
able to use them.

Has anyone tried to do customization of the Xkb setup for Thinkpads? 
Failing that, documentation on rolling one's own may be in order.

Thanks!

- Evan